Has the golden era for British boxing ended ?

[a force]

A 10 year golden period? I must’ve missed it.

Hearn had a good run getting the full backing of Sky but boxing in this country was pretty good before he came on the scene.

Hatton, Calzaghe, Haye, Froch, Khan all spent their peaks before that & it was just as good if not better for me.

[Ruthless-RKO]

In 2016-17 there was around 12 British/Eire world champions.

Yes a couple held the regular belts.

It was a good time.

Some never held the belts too long. Won vacant belts and lost at the first big step up.

[franciscojavier]

The UK basically had three straight golden eras in a row, from the 90’s to 2000’s to 2010’s. Pretty hard to keep up that momentum forever. There still are some solid British world champions like Okolie Wood and Taylor. I suppose Callum Smith somehow winning the light heavyweight title would be a big revival?

[Frostieballs]

I’ve been hearing that question for 30 years.

[margaret thatcher]

there are always ebbs and flows , yes it's certainly not at its strongest right now but that doesn't mean it's some irreparable decline

[mickey1975]

A 10 year golden period? I must’ve missed it.

Hearn had a good run getting the full backing of Sky but boxing in this country was pretty good before he came on the scene.

Hatton, Calzaghe, Haye, Froch, Khan all spent their peaks before that & it was just as good if not better for me.

Ricky, Calzaghe, Clinton Woods, Froch, Haye Audley…. Sky, BBC, ITV. 2000-2010 was much stronger leading up to the Hearn days.

[tony1234]

In financial terms surely it is still a golden era ?

[Delta Jay]

there are always ebbs and flows , yes it's certainly not at its strongest right now but that doesn't mean it's some irreparable decline

Pragmatic as always big Mags.

It’s always gonna be good times and bad times. I remember seeing a tally around 2017 where we had more world champs at the moment than any other country.

It will come and go, but it’s more important to get behind and support individual fighters.

[JamesPhilips]

Still got the best heavyweight in the world. And if fwank is to be believed the best young heavyweight prospect

[Steveh583]

basically the "boxing is dead" whinge-fest rejuvenated domestically.

[Bercli]

there are always ebbs and flows , yes it's certainly not at its strongest right now but that doesn't mean it's some irreparable decline

Let's be honest,the golden era of boxing has been finished for years. You just have to be honest with yourself

[Frostieballs]

there are always ebbs and flows , yes it's certainly not at its strongest right now but that doesn't mean it's some irreparable decline

Let's be honest,the golden era of boxing has been finished for years. You just have to be honest with yourself

Yet somehow we have boxers making more money than ever and selling out football stadiums.

It depends on your criteria I guess.

[Kit]

Boxing is a sport like most things were always better in the past.

Even if things were crap our memories tend to sugar coat things from yesteryear, the further back the memory the better it was

[Bigdogsnose]

It feels like a pretty dreadful time for quality match ups. Way too much money been wasted on fornicating dross over last few years. We have an over inflated market.

Uk is bad, but worlwide its looking grim. The US has a real deep talent pool right now, but they are all way too inactive.

Look at the box rec rankings in each division. Only a handful of top ranked guys even have fights scheduled. Only ony or two are fighting other top ranked guys.

No fights scheduled means min 8 to 10 weeks before they can possibly fight.

2023 is shaping to be leanest year of quality match ups we have seen. Top guys only fighting once, tops twice a year. At least one of them fights will be tune ups/no marks as well.

[Sweet Dick Willie]

Yes.

[rd350lc]

When even is the next decent UK card ? Says it all really .

[a force]

A 10 year golden period? I must’ve missed it.

Hearn had a good run getting the full backing of Sky but boxing in this country was pretty good before he came on the scene.

Hatton, Calzaghe, Haye, Froch, Khan all spent their peaks before that & it was just as good if not better for me.

Ricky, Calzaghe, Clinton Woods, Froch, Haye Audley…. Sky, BBC, ITV. 2000-2010 was much stronger leading up to the Hearn days.

True.

I often read people referring to the ‘leisure centre days’ as if that’s all we got pre-Hearn.

The only reason we got so many leisure centre shows was because Sky had shows on for about 45 weeks of the year. If they just did 15 or so a year like they did when Eddie was the sole promoter there wouldn’t have been leisure centre shows.

Frank regularly put shows on in arena’s.

The one thing Hearn did do was take shows to a few places that hadn’t had many televised fight nights like Leeds, Hull & Blackpool but I’m pretty sure other promoters would’ve took them to their hometowns if they had them too.

[mickey1975]

When even is the next decent UK card ? Says it all really .

Next Saturday night.

[mickey1975]

A 10 year golden period? I must’ve missed it.

Hearn had a good run getting the full backing of Sky but boxing in this country was pretty good before he came on the scene.

Hatton, Calzaghe, Haye, Froch, Khan all spent their peaks before that & it was just as good if not better for me.

Ricky, Calzaghe, Clinton Woods, Froch, Haye Audley…. Sky, BBC, ITV. 2000-2010 was much stronger leading up to the Hearn days.

True.

I often read people referring to the ‘leisure centre days’ as if that’s all we got pre-Hearn.

The only reason we got so many leisure centre shows was because Sky had shows on for about 45 weeks of the year. If they just did 15 or so a year like they did when Eddie was the sole promoter there wouldn’t have been leisure centre shows.

Frank regularly put shows on in arena’s.

The one thing Hearn did do was take shows to a few places that hadn’t had many televised fight nights like Leeds, Hull & Blackpool but I’m pretty sure other promoters would’ve took them to their hometowns if they had them too.

Duff and Wazza both went to Leeds and to Elland Road itself for tv shows, something Hearn hasn’t matched…. Maloney did World title boxing in Hull more than once…. All before Eddie ‘saved’ boxing.

[Muttley]

In financial terms surely it is still a golden era ?

You have to separate the financial benefits from the quality. These are two totally different when it comes to boxing.

[thenamesnevers]

The top guys over here refuse to fight each other.

We should have seen Brook vs Khan five years before it happened. Saunders and Callum Smith should have fought whilst both were world level. Saunders should have fought Eubank again and Groves at middleweight.

Fury and AJ would have been the biggest fight in Boxing. Look at the current crop at light-"heavyweight - Yarde, Buatsi, Smith, Azeez, Richards. Only two have fought each other. At feather, Wood and Warrington should have fought by now.

British fighters bar AJ and Fury aren't big enough over here to make wakes internationally. This should be a golden age.

[bedreamin]

It's not just Britain, who right now is having a 'golden era'? The states biggest star is arguably Gervonta Davis... and who has he really fought? It's a lack of top level talent/stars globally.

[jameswilson]

Fury
Okolie
Taylor
Wood
Sunny Edwards

All world champs (I may be missing someone.)

Not only that some in there are undisputed or the one who’s considered the legitimate current number 1.

Yeah I think we have had times when we’ve had more world champs but it’s hardly a rough patch.

[Lenny Cravats]

I don't know about a golden era, as such, but it feels like boxing has gone a bit thin and top heavy.
In that we used to have decent domestic fighters fighting each other on the regular in a bill that would have a few decent fights. They'd also be easier to watch in terms of subscriptions and whatnot.
It seems that boxing is more about the big fights now, the spectacle. A big fight with endless talk and marketing surrounding it, about once or twice a year -- rather than a consistent offering of decent fights.

Though it could just be that I'm not as interested as I was, and it's just nostalgia.

[Counter-puncher]

i've had more enjoyment and satisfaction from One Championship Muay Thai in the last month than I've had out of boxing in a year.